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If you were asked which 3 advancements most dramatically altered the legal landscape, what would you answer? The Code of Hammurabi? The Magna Carta? How about the iPad? Clio, the leading cloud-based practice management solution, has released the results of their 2013 ‘Apple In Law Offices’ survey. The survey, detailing Apple device usage in law firms across North America, shows exactly how far the influence of Cupertino extends in the legal industry.

The 2013 survey saw a marked increase in Apple adoption, with a 10% leap in both office Mac OS usage (from 56 to 66%), and iPad usage (from 57% to 67%), with iPhone usage spiking 12% to 74% (while Android and Blackberry both saw decreases in law firm usage compared to global adoption rates). Why the dramatic increase? Coupled with a number of exciting product releases and OS updates, 52% of respondents stated they chose Apple options because the technology was more reliable and secure, with Usability coming in next at 28%. Familiarity due to home use of Apple/Mac products was 10%, and aesthetics and design climbed back up to the 3% mark set 2 years ago.

Since the iPad debuted on the market, legal services penetration has risen from the initial 10% at product launch to an incredible 67% within 3 years. A demand for a mobile workforce and an industry that never sleeps have both been driving factors in iPad adoption, as well as a proliferation of offerings and apps targeted at improving law firm productivity and efficiency.

“For the fourth year in a row, the 2013 Apple in Law Firm survey results show the iPhone and iPad as two devices that have reshaped the legal technology landscape, with 2 in 3 law offices using either an iPhone or iPad,” said Clio CEO and co-founder Jack Newton. “Few technologies have achieved this level of ubiquity in a law firm.”

2013 was also the year cloud services came into their own in the legal sector, with each respondent averaging 2 cloud services used. Dropbox topped the charts in terms of cloud adoption with 26% of respondents saying they use the storage service, with Clio, everyone’s favorite cloud-based practice management system, coming in next at 21%. iCloud and Google Apps rounded out the cloud solutions list at 18% and 14%, respectively.

Proving that cloud and iDevice adoption are no longer the exclusive domain of tech-savvy solo practitioners, the survey was completed by 800 legal professionals across a wide variety of disciplines, from partners at mid-sized firms to law students and office managers.

Clio’s survey results show that Apple devices and cloud services continue to be the two defining characteristics driving the legal technology renaissance. What will next year hold?

Source: Clio's Apple In Law Offices Survey 2010-2013. Of 838 individuals surveyed (85.14%) were lawyers in small firms (1-10 attorneys) practicing primarily in the United States. Others participating included law students (0.81%), in house counsel (0.92%), practicing lawyers in medium-size law firms of 11-50 attorneys (1.96%), practicing lawyers in large firms of 50 attorneys or more (1.50%), and other (9.68%).

ABOUT CLIO

Clio is a cloud-based legal practice management platform that keeps your all-important matters, contacts and documents available anywhere. If you already use other popular cloud services like Dropbox or Google Apps, Clio will make you smile by tying them together in a single, easy-to-use system. With dozens of more advanced features like terrific time-tracking, comprehensive calendaring, and beautiful billing, Clio will save you time, make you money, and help you look polished and professional to your clients.

Clio is based in Vancouver, B.C., and was founded by Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau in 2007.